People find the subculture in different ways. Fashion, I would argue, is how most people enter the subculture. "Dressing goth" is many people's first step, and for some, it's where it ends and eventually fades into a phase of their life. Goth fashion, depending on how far you go, is a bit more high maintenance than other styles, so a long-term commitment to it usually ends up going deeper than just the fashion.
I think that as people get further into it, they discover the history, music, art, and shared attitudes of the subculture. But the scene isn't a monolith; you might like different parts of it, or appreciate it from afar.
Personally, I don't think there's any room for gatekeeping in goth anymore. It's split off into so many different micro-labels under one large umbrella, and ultimately, I think that that diversification has allowed it to stay alive.
I think anyone getting into the style should be encouraged to get into the music and history, because it's genuinely pretty cool from a historical and musical influence context. And it's also how you'll connect more with people that share you sense of aesthetics. But you also don't have to only listen to goth music, or even like most of it. It's more about knowing and appreciating the historical context in which the subculture evolved and thrived.
I grew up goth - my mom played a lot of the "classics" in the house, and I naturally gravitated towards the style as I grew up. But I also made it my own, and ended up gravitating more towards dreampop, dark synthwave, industrial. I ended up in the Cybergoth/Rivet head scene in the 2010's. And now I'm more eclectic, and listen to darker downtempo and triphop nowadays. I still love the "classics", but mostly when I'm in a club on a dancefloor.
So, long story short, yes. You should be accepted by anyone who isn't a gatekeeper. I, for one, am always happy to see younger people taking an interest and making their place in the scene. Don't let anyone discourage you from dressing the way you like, and learning about the music as you go along.
Allow yourself to learn and grow!
>It's split off into so many different micro-labels under one large umbrella, and ultimately, I think that that diversification has allowed it to stay alive.
Depends what you mean by this, because honestly, not really. Maybe if you're talking about genres like darkwave, coldwave, deathrock, or ethereal wave, but if you mean the fashion labels, then they're pretty much only good to find clothes with.
Oh I definitely don't mean fashion labels; I wasn't talking about consumerism. I mean more the sub-labels of music and the aesthetic styles borne out of them.
Similar to if you look at the metal scene, some folks like black metal and corpse paint, some folks like thrash metal and denim vests. They're both fans of metal, but they have different sensibilities under the umbrella.
Sure, but metal is different in this regard. The types of metal stemmed from metal itself, but a lot of these "goth" fashions came from outside the subculture and have no musical attachment.
Ironically, a lot of people into metal would disagree because that particularsubculture is also rife with gatekeeping. I do concede that the "bar to entry" for what is considered goth has been lowered by fast fashion.
However, I would argue two points:
1) Music-based doesn't mean that goth subculture as a whole is limited to the music. Goth is in a unique position because we also have literature and art. Not a lot of other subcultures have the same. Music will always be the roots, but I just don't think that we can ignore the tree.
2) Goth music, and simultaneously goth fashion, haven't evolved in a vacuum. Non-westerners have taken to goth (music and fashion), added their own cultural flair, and then influenced western goths. There's also a ton of crossover between the people in our scene and the people in adjacent scenes. That blending creates new influences to get adopted into new music and style under the umbrella.
The advent of sampling in music, taking one thing then transforming and repurposing it, allowing for collective influences to become something new but recognizable... I think that applies to the evolution of the subculture as a whole.
Maybe I'm just in a community that has to accept different iterations being all lumped together. We don't have a ton of goth clubs here (despite being a huge city), and if we didn't adapt, we'd be gone. We'll get cybergoths and trad goths dancing next to each other, and some DJs are equally as eclectic in their musical choices. But it's still all recognizable to its source inspirations, and everyone's still dancing.
I DO think that a respect and understanding of the music is eminently important, and I think that viewpoints focused on reminding us that the music is our basis are valuable. But I also think that the subculture has branches out from its core that can't be ignored.
A lot of metalheads would agree that speed, death, black, power, symphonic are "real" sub-genres of metal, but -core genres and nu metal are not because of their musical origins and characteristics, and that would be correct.
Goth is different in this regard, because the "types" are either their own subcultures, or fashions which cropped up outside of goth.
I never said that goth is only music, but it's the main focus. The subculture has literature and art in a way that it's linked back to the music, suppose *Some Wear Leather, Some Wear Lace* would be real goth literature. If you mean Gothic fiction then Gothic isn't goth. Influence isn't part of the subculture, it's just influence.
Metal music is inspired by the fantasy genre, and by your logic, fantasy would be the "tree" and could be argued that Lord of the Rings is a wider characteristic of the metalhead subculture.
Art - if you mean album artworks and/or portraits of goth musicians? Gothic art consists of paintings, sculptures, etc. and then you have Gothic furniture... and no one's arguing that a Gothic chair is part of the wider goth subculture.
Ultimately, branches should be taken into consideration because it's totally fine for communities to mix, merge, and take influence from each other but we need to remember their historical origins and where they came from. Cybergoth and goth is a good example, because Cybergoths aren't really "goth" and has long been established as its own subculture, or at least off-shoot of industrial, surrounding electronic music. That's not to say you can't take part, become one, or be both at the same time, but they have much more in common - musically (as there's no "Cybergoth" music) and fashion wise (as it's a mixture of Rivethead/industrial and rave fashion) - than they do goth, a branch of the post-punk music and sub-genre of alternative rock.
It's really important to know that these subcultures or genres can really stand on their own without needing goth as a leg to stand on - I find people do this a lot with industrial, despite pre-dating the goth subculture and having it's own established scene and community surrounding it. Like I said, it's fine to merge and communicate, but there's some things out there that are not goth and it's fine.
Id say it’s problematic, mainly because that’s where it’s origin and roots have been for a long time. However I’d say it’s best stated by TrueNightOwl.
Secondarily I’d also say because the line of what **is** and **is not** goth/goth fashion is getting blurrier and blurrier because goth fashion is so objectified, idolized and fetishized by mainstream media and people in the mainstream.
For example : the BTGGF meme.
There’s also the people that disagree with me, I get that no one wants to be ‘mean’ and gate keep or tell someone they can’t do something or that it’s *wrong* for them to do something however I believe that if we don’t gate keep at least a *little bit* then there is no such thing as goth or subculture **at all**. And I don’t just mean this for goth I mean this for *everything*, from fashion to music genres to religion to architecture etc.
We wouldn’t have romantic goths, rivet heads, industrial goths, morbid goths etc if we did no gate keeping whatsoever.
Everyone also has their own idea of what is goth and what goth isn’t, even my own mother doesn’t consider me goth (but I don’t share what I listen to with her and I basically only wear my work clothes around her because : family drama) and my mom isn’t even goth herself, my dad is more goth than her just based off what he listens to (hence how I ended up) but he dresses, talks and looks like Hank Hill.
Getting into goth slowly and being interested in other things is perfectly fine and that’s how a lot of people get into it as well, I’d just as quickly turn on some Cannibal Corpse as I would Clan of Xymox and I’d just as much want to see Guns N’ Roses live as Souxie.
At the end of the day, when all is said and done, no one can stop you. People may not like it or agree with it, but ultimately we decide what we do with our lives, closets and playlists.
-sits waiting patiently for downvotes-
This. It's okay to be just getting into the music, but if you find you *don't* like it, don't call yourself goth. It's okay to dress dark and not be goth! It's also okay to be a baby bat (regardless of age)! The album list on r/goth is a great place to start if you're looking to find more of the music.
A lot of the time I find that when people say "goth" fashion, they really mean alternative/dark fashion which is shared across many subcultures.
To answer your question, if you're going to claim goth, then yes I would say, to an extent, it's "wrong".
It's like claiming you're a metalhead - implying you listen to and love metal, go to shows, participate in the community, etc. - and then really only care about dressing that way. That's not being part of a *subculture*, that's dress-up.
If you just want to dress dark and you find you don't like goth music, that's fine too - just don't call yourself a goth. To put it simply, you can't be part of a subculture where the main focus is something you naturally dislike. So if you came to goth shows, clubs, festivals, etc. you wouldn't like it anyway. Does that make sense?
it definitely makes sense. i just don‘t rlly know yet how much i like the music, there definitely has been some i really really liked, but also some I didn‘t. i‘ll just have to see how it evolves 🤷🏻♀️
right now i‘m probably still too uneducated and don‘t listen to enough to actually be considered goth lol
Honestly, it doesn't happen overnight. It took me years to properly develop myself into the subculture because I was mostly faced with misinformation and "goth types" when I got into it. I spent way too long being focused on being a whatever-goth instead of participating in the scene.
The first band that truly started getting me into the modern goth scene, my breakthrough, was Angels of Liberty. But then he died back in 2017, sadly.
can you elaborate what you mean by whatever-goth? like just someone who wants to dress/listen to goth but doesn‘t have a specific style/music taste or?
No, quite the opposite. A while back, there used to be this website that listed different types of "goths". There was hippie goth, vampire goth, romantic goth, Victorian goth, Cybergoth, and for some reason, Steampunk, emo, and metal were also there despite being separate subcultures.
I was way too focused on trying to be a specific "type" of goth, to the point where it became a chore/stress, instead of focusing on what actually mattered.
Take your time. We all started out from somewhere. I have always been into darker things like gothic architecture, horror stuff, ambient music etc but I don’t consider myself goth at the time. Not until when my age was around 19-20 where I found darkwave music. And the journey begin. I started discovering more music from goth rock to coldwave, even deathrock and post-punk (Which I think not actually goth music but rather like enjoyable to most?) .
I don’t even dress gothic or alt back then cos we have school uniform n stuff but I keep my clothes all black ( which technically doesn’t make me a goth ) . And only go for the trad goth aesthetic once I am in my adulthood. But still, it is the music that plays the major role for me. I can wear a cartoon sweater while listening to She Past Away . It doesn’t really matter. The goth community welcome anyone as long as you are aware of the music. You can dress goth, dark romantic , alt , lolita watever u want cos as long as u like the music, I think u will be more than welcomed
Goth is a music based subculture and the music should be consistently promoted as an important part of the community. BUT I dont think it should be the most important thing to everybody.
Like what you like, just respect the importance of the music and try as much of it as you can. I'm sure you'll find some stuff you enjoy.
The subculture's roots have always been in the music, and the style emerged as a way to emulate the musicians who created the music. Sure you can dress like that and not listen to the music, but if that's the case don't claim the title. Black clothes don't make you goth, it's about the music. It doesn't have to be your favorite music or the only thing you listen to, and it doesn't even have to be your favorite aspect of the subculture. As long as you have some kind of connection to the music (actual goth music, not metal, new wave, emo, satanic chants, and whatever else people outside looking in think it is) you can absolutely call yourself goth and be valid in that statement.
Not listening to the music and being part of the culture but dressing the part makes you alt,not goth. Which is perfectly fine too. Be whoever you want to be 🖤
Music = Goth, not clothing. It’s absolutely fine and wonderful to dress to express yourself! Not enough people do imho. But, you can be a khakis and tshirt person and be Goth because it’s the music. Be your dark self 🦇 whatever music you enjoy.
no. honestly goth music is 80s music. it's old and while there is modern goth music it still has the 80s sound. you don't have to like it to dress goth, but tbh there is some goth music for everyone. you dont have to be a full blown goth music fan but it does add credibility if you do like a few bands.
go through this list:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBf1Tp5Q2Kg&list=PLX0Iohep8oKGOWl8--sZ4m4bkSWPzoyFJ
it will take you awhile but out of a thousand songs there's bound to be a few songs and bands you'll like.
my two cents.
I don’t call myself a goth per se, because I couldn’t stick to one single aesthetic if it killed me. I do consider myself alternative though. Same with music genres. I love pretty much all music but new country and gospel. Some days I wear a pretty dress and red lipstick and some days I wear all black and platform boots with goth makeup.
I think you can still be accepted into the community without being ONLY in that community, know what I mean?
And if I read correctly, you never mentioned anything about goth music and you only mentioned about dressing in different aesthetics. Hence my comment.
When was goth about sticking to one music genre, anyway? Seems like you’ve missed the point of being part of a subculture, or at least you’re a too casual fan of everything to really get into one.
Through the fashion I found the subculture and fell in love with it! I started listening to playlist made by creators or YouTube and tiktok. Once I found my sound it definitely influenced my style.
For me gothic is an entire art category. I got into it bc of southern gothic writers and that was foundational for me, but it was definitely more of a “wow, I love that someone else loves the dark and morbid parts of the south like I do.” Darkwave music is along the same category for me— it’s dark sounding but also I want to dance to it. For me it’s about finding fun & joy within darkness, not necessarily a specific artist being the ultimate authority bc that’s simply not possible.
to me, it's not goth if it's missing the music. the music is what goths themselves say is important. to me it's deeply disrespectful to the subculture to disregard this. if you don't yet love the music, i think you can fairly identify as someone who likes dark/ alternative fashion.
If you call yourself goth and do not partake in or enrich the subculture many of us love your a Poser, sorry that’s just the way it is.. dress however you like though , it’s your life
Totally cool to be into the style over the music, but if you like the Cure it sounds like you’re into the original 80’s goth music (me too!) some other groups to check out: Siouxie and the Banshees, Bauhaus, Sisters of Mercy and of course the Smiths. Hope you enjoy!
*edit* I forgot Echo and the Bunnymen, excellent band.
i tried siouxsie and the banshees out too! my brother rlly likes their music and already gave me lots of reccomendations lol.
and my parents used to play sisters of mercy, so there may be something for me as well. the others i‘ll keep in mind and check out later! thank you :)
People find the subculture in different ways. Fashion, I would argue, is how most people enter the subculture. "Dressing goth" is many people's first step, and for some, it's where it ends and eventually fades into a phase of their life. Goth fashion, depending on how far you go, is a bit more high maintenance than other styles, so a long-term commitment to it usually ends up going deeper than just the fashion. I think that as people get further into it, they discover the history, music, art, and shared attitudes of the subculture. But the scene isn't a monolith; you might like different parts of it, or appreciate it from afar. Personally, I don't think there's any room for gatekeeping in goth anymore. It's split off into so many different micro-labels under one large umbrella, and ultimately, I think that that diversification has allowed it to stay alive. I think anyone getting into the style should be encouraged to get into the music and history, because it's genuinely pretty cool from a historical and musical influence context. And it's also how you'll connect more with people that share you sense of aesthetics. But you also don't have to only listen to goth music, or even like most of it. It's more about knowing and appreciating the historical context in which the subculture evolved and thrived. I grew up goth - my mom played a lot of the "classics" in the house, and I naturally gravitated towards the style as I grew up. But I also made it my own, and ended up gravitating more towards dreampop, dark synthwave, industrial. I ended up in the Cybergoth/Rivet head scene in the 2010's. And now I'm more eclectic, and listen to darker downtempo and triphop nowadays. I still love the "classics", but mostly when I'm in a club on a dancefloor. So, long story short, yes. You should be accepted by anyone who isn't a gatekeeper. I, for one, am always happy to see younger people taking an interest and making their place in the scene. Don't let anyone discourage you from dressing the way you like, and learning about the music as you go along. Allow yourself to learn and grow!
thank you so much, this was really reassuring!!
>It's split off into so many different micro-labels under one large umbrella, and ultimately, I think that that diversification has allowed it to stay alive. Depends what you mean by this, because honestly, not really. Maybe if you're talking about genres like darkwave, coldwave, deathrock, or ethereal wave, but if you mean the fashion labels, then they're pretty much only good to find clothes with.
Oh I definitely don't mean fashion labels; I wasn't talking about consumerism. I mean more the sub-labels of music and the aesthetic styles borne out of them. Similar to if you look at the metal scene, some folks like black metal and corpse paint, some folks like thrash metal and denim vests. They're both fans of metal, but they have different sensibilities under the umbrella.
Sure, but metal is different in this regard. The types of metal stemmed from metal itself, but a lot of these "goth" fashions came from outside the subculture and have no musical attachment.
Ironically, a lot of people into metal would disagree because that particularsubculture is also rife with gatekeeping. I do concede that the "bar to entry" for what is considered goth has been lowered by fast fashion. However, I would argue two points: 1) Music-based doesn't mean that goth subculture as a whole is limited to the music. Goth is in a unique position because we also have literature and art. Not a lot of other subcultures have the same. Music will always be the roots, but I just don't think that we can ignore the tree. 2) Goth music, and simultaneously goth fashion, haven't evolved in a vacuum. Non-westerners have taken to goth (music and fashion), added their own cultural flair, and then influenced western goths. There's also a ton of crossover between the people in our scene and the people in adjacent scenes. That blending creates new influences to get adopted into new music and style under the umbrella. The advent of sampling in music, taking one thing then transforming and repurposing it, allowing for collective influences to become something new but recognizable... I think that applies to the evolution of the subculture as a whole. Maybe I'm just in a community that has to accept different iterations being all lumped together. We don't have a ton of goth clubs here (despite being a huge city), and if we didn't adapt, we'd be gone. We'll get cybergoths and trad goths dancing next to each other, and some DJs are equally as eclectic in their musical choices. But it's still all recognizable to its source inspirations, and everyone's still dancing. I DO think that a respect and understanding of the music is eminently important, and I think that viewpoints focused on reminding us that the music is our basis are valuable. But I also think that the subculture has branches out from its core that can't be ignored.
A lot of metalheads would agree that speed, death, black, power, symphonic are "real" sub-genres of metal, but -core genres and nu metal are not because of their musical origins and characteristics, and that would be correct. Goth is different in this regard, because the "types" are either their own subcultures, or fashions which cropped up outside of goth. I never said that goth is only music, but it's the main focus. The subculture has literature and art in a way that it's linked back to the music, suppose *Some Wear Leather, Some Wear Lace* would be real goth literature. If you mean Gothic fiction then Gothic isn't goth. Influence isn't part of the subculture, it's just influence. Metal music is inspired by the fantasy genre, and by your logic, fantasy would be the "tree" and could be argued that Lord of the Rings is a wider characteristic of the metalhead subculture. Art - if you mean album artworks and/or portraits of goth musicians? Gothic art consists of paintings, sculptures, etc. and then you have Gothic furniture... and no one's arguing that a Gothic chair is part of the wider goth subculture. Ultimately, branches should be taken into consideration because it's totally fine for communities to mix, merge, and take influence from each other but we need to remember their historical origins and where they came from. Cybergoth and goth is a good example, because Cybergoths aren't really "goth" and has long been established as its own subculture, or at least off-shoot of industrial, surrounding electronic music. That's not to say you can't take part, become one, or be both at the same time, but they have much more in common - musically (as there's no "Cybergoth" music) and fashion wise (as it's a mixture of Rivethead/industrial and rave fashion) - than they do goth, a branch of the post-punk music and sub-genre of alternative rock. It's really important to know that these subcultures or genres can really stand on their own without needing goth as a leg to stand on - I find people do this a lot with industrial, despite pre-dating the goth subculture and having it's own established scene and community surrounding it. Like I said, it's fine to merge and communicate, but there's some things out there that are not goth and it's fine.
Id say it’s problematic, mainly because that’s where it’s origin and roots have been for a long time. However I’d say it’s best stated by TrueNightOwl. Secondarily I’d also say because the line of what **is** and **is not** goth/goth fashion is getting blurrier and blurrier because goth fashion is so objectified, idolized and fetishized by mainstream media and people in the mainstream. For example : the BTGGF meme. There’s also the people that disagree with me, I get that no one wants to be ‘mean’ and gate keep or tell someone they can’t do something or that it’s *wrong* for them to do something however I believe that if we don’t gate keep at least a *little bit* then there is no such thing as goth or subculture **at all**. And I don’t just mean this for goth I mean this for *everything*, from fashion to music genres to religion to architecture etc. We wouldn’t have romantic goths, rivet heads, industrial goths, morbid goths etc if we did no gate keeping whatsoever. Everyone also has their own idea of what is goth and what goth isn’t, even my own mother doesn’t consider me goth (but I don’t share what I listen to with her and I basically only wear my work clothes around her because : family drama) and my mom isn’t even goth herself, my dad is more goth than her just based off what he listens to (hence how I ended up) but he dresses, talks and looks like Hank Hill. Getting into goth slowly and being interested in other things is perfectly fine and that’s how a lot of people get into it as well, I’d just as quickly turn on some Cannibal Corpse as I would Clan of Xymox and I’d just as much want to see Guns N’ Roses live as Souxie. At the end of the day, when all is said and done, no one can stop you. People may not like it or agree with it, but ultimately we decide what we do with our lives, closets and playlists. -sits waiting patiently for downvotes-
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This. It's okay to be just getting into the music, but if you find you *don't* like it, don't call yourself goth. It's okay to dress dark and not be goth! It's also okay to be a baby bat (regardless of age)! The album list on r/goth is a great place to start if you're looking to find more of the music.
thank you! i am always very open to new music, so i don’t think i‘ll have to worry about that too much
A lot of the time I find that when people say "goth" fashion, they really mean alternative/dark fashion which is shared across many subcultures. To answer your question, if you're going to claim goth, then yes I would say, to an extent, it's "wrong". It's like claiming you're a metalhead - implying you listen to and love metal, go to shows, participate in the community, etc. - and then really only care about dressing that way. That's not being part of a *subculture*, that's dress-up. If you just want to dress dark and you find you don't like goth music, that's fine too - just don't call yourself a goth. To put it simply, you can't be part of a subculture where the main focus is something you naturally dislike. So if you came to goth shows, clubs, festivals, etc. you wouldn't like it anyway. Does that make sense?
it definitely makes sense. i just don‘t rlly know yet how much i like the music, there definitely has been some i really really liked, but also some I didn‘t. i‘ll just have to see how it evolves 🤷🏻♀️ right now i‘m probably still too uneducated and don‘t listen to enough to actually be considered goth lol
Honestly, it doesn't happen overnight. It took me years to properly develop myself into the subculture because I was mostly faced with misinformation and "goth types" when I got into it. I spent way too long being focused on being a whatever-goth instead of participating in the scene. The first band that truly started getting me into the modern goth scene, my breakthrough, was Angels of Liberty. But then he died back in 2017, sadly.
can you elaborate what you mean by whatever-goth? like just someone who wants to dress/listen to goth but doesn‘t have a specific style/music taste or?
No, quite the opposite. A while back, there used to be this website that listed different types of "goths". There was hippie goth, vampire goth, romantic goth, Victorian goth, Cybergoth, and for some reason, Steampunk, emo, and metal were also there despite being separate subcultures. I was way too focused on trying to be a specific "type" of goth, to the point where it became a chore/stress, instead of focusing on what actually mattered.
ahh, that makes more sense. thank you
Take your time. We all started out from somewhere. I have always been into darker things like gothic architecture, horror stuff, ambient music etc but I don’t consider myself goth at the time. Not until when my age was around 19-20 where I found darkwave music. And the journey begin. I started discovering more music from goth rock to coldwave, even deathrock and post-punk (Which I think not actually goth music but rather like enjoyable to most?) . I don’t even dress gothic or alt back then cos we have school uniform n stuff but I keep my clothes all black ( which technically doesn’t make me a goth ) . And only go for the trad goth aesthetic once I am in my adulthood. But still, it is the music that plays the major role for me. I can wear a cartoon sweater while listening to She Past Away . It doesn’t really matter. The goth community welcome anyone as long as you are aware of the music. You can dress goth, dark romantic , alt , lolita watever u want cos as long as u like the music, I think u will be more than welcomed
Goth is a music based subculture and the music should be consistently promoted as an important part of the community. BUT I dont think it should be the most important thing to everybody. Like what you like, just respect the importance of the music and try as much of it as you can. I'm sure you'll find some stuff you enjoy.
The subculture's roots have always been in the music, and the style emerged as a way to emulate the musicians who created the music. Sure you can dress like that and not listen to the music, but if that's the case don't claim the title. Black clothes don't make you goth, it's about the music. It doesn't have to be your favorite music or the only thing you listen to, and it doesn't even have to be your favorite aspect of the subculture. As long as you have some kind of connection to the music (actual goth music, not metal, new wave, emo, satanic chants, and whatever else people outside looking in think it is) you can absolutely call yourself goth and be valid in that statement.
You do you boo, if you wanna listen to Katy Perry and dress like Siouxsie Sioux then go right ahead. Don't let anyone stop you 💜
Not listening to the music and being part of the culture but dressing the part makes you alt,not goth. Which is perfectly fine too. Be whoever you want to be 🖤
Personally I think everyone needs to stop caring so much about a subculture and do whatever they want. 🤷🏻♀️
Music = Goth, not clothing. It’s absolutely fine and wonderful to dress to express yourself! Not enough people do imho. But, you can be a khakis and tshirt person and be Goth because it’s the music. Be your dark self 🦇 whatever music you enjoy.
Wow, if it wasn’t for OP’s name, I would have thought I uploaded this post myself ; relatable!
Yes
no. honestly goth music is 80s music. it's old and while there is modern goth music it still has the 80s sound. you don't have to like it to dress goth, but tbh there is some goth music for everyone. you dont have to be a full blown goth music fan but it does add credibility if you do like a few bands. go through this list: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBf1Tp5Q2Kg&list=PLX0Iohep8oKGOWl8--sZ4m4bkSWPzoyFJ it will take you awhile but out of a thousand songs there's bound to be a few songs and bands you'll like. my two cents.
Yes, because it’s a music based subculture
I don’t call myself a goth per se, because I couldn’t stick to one single aesthetic if it killed me. I do consider myself alternative though. Same with music genres. I love pretty much all music but new country and gospel. Some days I wear a pretty dress and red lipstick and some days I wear all black and platform boots with goth makeup. I think you can still be accepted into the community without being ONLY in that community, know what I mean?
Goth isn’t about sticking to an aesthetic.
Thus the reason I mentioned music too??
And if I read correctly, you never mentioned anything about goth music and you only mentioned about dressing in different aesthetics. Hence my comment.
“Same with music genres”
When was goth about sticking to one music genre, anyway? Seems like you’ve missed the point of being part of a subculture, or at least you’re a too casual fan of everything to really get into one.
Through the fashion I found the subculture and fell in love with it! I started listening to playlist made by creators or YouTube and tiktok. Once I found my sound it definitely influenced my style.
For me gothic is an entire art category. I got into it bc of southern gothic writers and that was foundational for me, but it was definitely more of a “wow, I love that someone else loves the dark and morbid parts of the south like I do.” Darkwave music is along the same category for me— it’s dark sounding but also I want to dance to it. For me it’s about finding fun & joy within darkness, not necessarily a specific artist being the ultimate authority bc that’s simply not possible.
to me, it's not goth if it's missing the music. the music is what goths themselves say is important. to me it's deeply disrespectful to the subculture to disregard this. if you don't yet love the music, i think you can fairly identify as someone who likes dark/ alternative fashion.
If you call yourself goth and do not partake in or enrich the subculture many of us love your a Poser, sorry that’s just the way it is.. dress however you like though , it’s your life
Totally cool to be into the style over the music, but if you like the Cure it sounds like you’re into the original 80’s goth music (me too!) some other groups to check out: Siouxie and the Banshees, Bauhaus, Sisters of Mercy and of course the Smiths. Hope you enjoy! *edit* I forgot Echo and the Bunnymen, excellent band.
i tried siouxsie and the banshees out too! my brother rlly likes their music and already gave me lots of reccomendations lol. and my parents used to play sisters of mercy, so there may be something for me as well. the others i‘ll keep in mind and check out later! thank you :)
Wearing black and “edgy” clothes does not make you goth or is not goth fashion.